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Fri, May 9th.
Later that night, Max sat alone in Kai's apartment. The dim light of the evening casting long shadows across the room. The silence was heavy, punctuated only by the occasional creak of the floorboards and the distant hum of traffic. His mind however was anything but quiet.
He couldn't stop thinking about his ex, Joshua. Every detail of their relationship had replayed in his mind like an old film reel. His obnoxious laugh. The way he crinkled his nose when he had smiled. the long walks they took through the city. Max found himself obsessively dissecting every conversation, every disagreement, wondering where things had gone wrong.
"What the fuck.." He mused, staring blankly put the window. The "what ifs" and "if only's" looped endlessly, making it difficult for him to focus on anything else.
Kai had noticed the change. Kai often tried to distract him with outings and new activities, but Max's mind would inevitably drift back to Josh. He replayed their last argument repeatedly, analyzing each word. Each pause. Trying to understand how they had ended up here.
One night, Max found himself scrolling through old photos on his phone. He lingered on a picture of them at the fair, their faces lit up with happiness. The memory brought a bittersweet pang to his heart. "Was he as happy as she looked? or was he already thinking about leaving?"
The overthinking became a relentless companion, following him to work, intruding on conversations with friends, and seeping into his dreams. Max knew he was stuck.. trapped in a cycle of overanalysis that kept him anchored in the past.
His productivity at streaming suffered. Simple tasks took longer as his mind wandered back to Josh. He found himself zoning out during e-chats, his thoughts tangled in memories and regrets. Even errands like grocery shopping became triggers. He would see his favorite cereal or the brand of juice Josh loved, and his heart would clench with longing and uncertainty.
Max's evenings were the hardest. Alone in his apartment without his boyfriend being there, he would sit on the couch. Replaying their relationship like a detective trying to solve an unsolvable case. He knew this wasn't healthy, but he couldn't seem to stop. He was caught in a web of his own making. Each thread a memory, a regret, a question without an answer.
It wasn't until Kai had sat him down one day, his voice firm but kind that Max realized he needed to break free from his own mind. He knew was overthinking. "Max.. you can't keep doing this to yourself. You're torturing yourself over things you can't change or control. It's time to let go."
